Improvement in draft-cables for railroads



A. E. BEACH.. DRAFT CABLE FOR RAILROAD.

No. 49,696. Patented, Sept. 5.l865.

as the rule-joint.

`lo\v the surlace ot' the street in UNITED STATES A. ELY BEACH, OF STBATFORD, CONNECTICUT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,696, dated September To all rwhom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, A. ELY BEACH, of Stratford, Faireld county, and State ot Connecticut, have invented a new and useful improvement in Draught-Cables for Railroads an other Purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of my invention,

skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which the sainelet-ters indicate similar parts in all the figures, and in which- Figure l is a side elevation of my improvement. Fig. 2 is an end sectional elevation. Fig'. 3 is an elevation ot' one of the links of the cable, having double heads or .lips or ears. Fig. 4 is a plan view 0E the same. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one oft-he single links of the cabie,land Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same, and the remaining iigures are modifications ot my improvements.

My 'improvement is chiefly intended for use in the propulsion ot' railroad passenger-cars in cities; but it may also be employed for every species oi' traction, or wherever a moving cable is required.

'My improved cable is composed of a series ot' horizontal links of iron or steel, A A', connected at their extremities by what is known The extremities of one ot the links, A, are made with rounded projecting lips ct a, between which lips the rounded extremity l ot' the next succeeding link, A', is fitted. The sides of the link A' are on the same plane, or, in other words, the, thickness of the link is the same throughout; but the links A are thickened at their ends, in order that the lips et a may be formed thereon. The links A A' are connected together by means ot' a pin, w, passing through a suitable aperture in their extremities. 1t will be observed that the links, when made and connected as here shown, form a cable the upper surface of which presents an unbroken horizontal back or ridge or'comb, c. See Figs. 1 and 2.)

When the cable is to be used lor the propulsion ot' railroad-cars the pins fr; by which the links are connected, are provided at their ends with small friction rollers 'or Wheels l), which run upon a suitable track arranged bea. groove sunk in the rails of the railroad. he propelled there in the street or- Attached to the vehicle to which will enable any personv PATENT CEEICE.

is an arm or rod or clamp, which, on being thrust down-far enough, will come into contact with the ridge or back C the cable, and when the said arm or ldevice is made to clamp or grasp the said cable the said car or vehicle will inove with the' said cable. rPhe red lines in Fig. 2 indicate the pzirtsjust mentioned, d being the instrument projecting i'rom the car; c e, the ordinary rails of a streetrailroad; ff, the supporting-sleepers; g, the rail on which the cable-wheels run.

In passing around the corners ot' streets the links composing the cable Will bend to accommodate themselves to the curve which they are compelled to traverse, the central part of the cable-links A being made elastic and thin for that purpose, as shown in Fig. 4, in which the red lines indicate the deflection of the link from a straight line in passing a circle or corner. The natural elasticity ot' the metal composing the links A A will be suiiicient to cause them to return to their straight position after the curves or corners have been passed. The cable is propelled by means ot steamengines and suitable drums at each end ot the railroad-route or other location, and the cable being connected so as' to form an endless belt passes over said suitable drums or wheels, one halt' of the cable being thus made to move in one direction, while the other halt' moves in the contrary direction.

lThe lateral iiexibility ot the will be found advantageous or other device,

links ot' the cable in'changing the direction ot' the motion 'ot' the cable at its `l passage over the driving-drums, because the said drums will be sc made as not only to give motion to the cable, but also to detlect or bend the cable, so as to cause it to pass ,from one railroad-track to another.

In some cases it may be found desirable, instead ot" depending upon the natural flexibility of the cable for lateral bending, to have each link jointed at the middle between the friction-Wheels. ln Figs. 5 and 6 the red lines indicate such a joint, by means of which :any desired degree ot' lateral curvature in the links may be obtained, still preserving the even back or comb c before described.

The use otl the friction-w heels upon the cable l do not deem absolutely essential. Where short cables areused the said wheels may be omitted, in which case the cable will rest upon its extremities or wholly upon its bottom part,

y wheel arranged at the joint of the cable-links,

and will run in a groove so made as to reserve or maintain the cable in an upright form for the due action upon it of' the car-connecting device.

t e ears' and the friction-wheel. Thesesingle wheels will run upon a single rail, g', as shown in red, Fig. 8. g indicates the rail. Thenpthe cable, as'shown in Fig. 8. When it is desired to have the cable made to bend upward above a horizontal line the extremities of the links at y must be cutl inclined, as shown in red, Fig. 1.

In some cases, when desired, a wire or rope cable 'may be made with a comb or combs or backs to receive the connecting device, the back being attached to the rope 1n sections arranged groove or space, so that bya slight turn of said device the car and cable will be more or less iirmly connected together, the connection being established by the binding of the edges oi' the connecting device with or against the snrfaecs of the groove or links. The form of the lower part ot' the connecting device thus used will be that ofaa simple blade, as shown by d in Fig. 15. This i'orm of cable-back permits I c', the groove or double back. l

Attached to the cable byapivot q, and pendent therefrom at any suitable place or places upon the line of the cable, I have a series of scrapers, G, consisting of suitable plates of' metal so formed, constructed, and arranged to operate that when the cable moves these sera pers will carry before them any dirt orother obstructions that may have accumulated in the groove or channel in which the cable runs. At suitable intervals in the line ofthe groove The back of the cable and the bottom of the connecting device may, if found desirable, be serrated. The red lines iu Fig. 15, It 7i, indicate these parts.l ln using these parts it will only be necessary to cause the serrated surface ot' the device d to descend upon the serrated back or comb ofthe cable A A', when the car will be moved. I however prefer to -use a smooth-backed cable, for it permits the more gentle or easy startingof the car, inasmuch as the grasp ot' the car-connecting device upon the cablelnay be rendered more or less iirm at will, and thus the cable will be allowed to slip slowly through the car-connecting device until the inertia of the lcar has been overcome, when the connecting device may be tightened, and the same speed which the cable has will be imparted to t e car.

placed, into which the said dirt or obstructions will be swept bythe Scrapers G. A(See Figs. 1

It will readily be understood that iu lieu of the scrapers G any other suitable cleaning or sweeping device'inay be attached to the cable.

or back thereto attached. One form ofsuch cable and attachment is shown in Fig. 16, in which `ijshows the cable; z, binding-wires passback c3, which is made separate from the cable, as shown. Having thus described my invention, l claim Thejoint between the links may be made in the form' shown in Fig. 7, itpreierable, in which each link is provided with an ear,a b,andWhen both ears are fitted together the continuous he conbination'ot the friction-wheels with said links, substantially as herein de- 3. The serrated comb or back, constructed and employed as herein set forth.

4. The combination, with a draft-cable, of a scraper, substantially as described.

A. ELY BEACH.

A method of using single friction-wheels upon which to support the cable -is shown in Figs-8, 9, 10, 11, in which 'i shows the single each end of the links having ears a b, by which theyareconnected, and the Wheel being located between the two central earsbelow the cable,

Witnesses 4 PETER Cooks, Gemvius KNIGHT.

a single bolt, w, being arranged'to. uniteall successively, asshowu in red, Fig. 16, in which.. n indicates the rope, and c the comb or back;

ingaround the cable and through the comb or l 

